Former Pure Prairie Poultry employee wins court case for final paycheck
(ABC 6 News) – One Pure Prairie Poultry employee should receive his final, missing paycheck from Pure Prairie Poultry following a small claims court case.
Floyd County Court awarded the plaintiff, the Pure Prairie employee, $1,400.
“I am very pleased with the outcome,” the employee said in an email. “I am finally going to get what I am owed.” feel free to use that if you would like. “
Pure Prairie Poultry did not immediately satisfy the debt.
The $1,400 check will accrue 6.23 percent interest every year if not paid in 2025, according to court records.
—–PREVIOUS STORY—–
(ABC 6 News) — A former Pure Prairie Poultry employee filed in small claims court to get their last paycheck, which they allege the company never paid.
The Charles City chicken processing plant closed its doors in October after facing financial difficulties.
The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with 937 creditors listed an estimated debt of $100 million to $500 million.
According to the bankruptcy filing, Pure Prairie Poultry had between $50 and $100 million in assets to its name.
However, the filing was dismissed and the plant announced it was closing its doors and their employees would be terminated.
RELATED: 1.3 million chickens euthanized in Iowa, Congress questions USDA
Those employees were due to be paid on October 4, but months later, have not received their final paychecks.
“A lot of us are living pay check to paycheck, so not getting those funds are really putting some people in a tight spot,” one anonymous employee told ABC 6.
Former employees said they have not heard an update from the company since October 25.
“Right now, we don’t know where it sits. We’re just in limbo. a bunch of people are just waiting for updates that never come,” Jeremy Schmidt, a former Pure Prairie Poultry employee, said.
One employee filed for the $1,400 they are owed from the company, as a last resort to get their money and find out what is going on with their former employer.
Other employees are skeptical they will ever see the money they are owed.
“There’s no money to be had I don’t think. That the most frustrating thing, like, who’s gonna get their money because there is none,” Schmidt said.
The small claims case is just one of the multiple cases Pure Prairie Poultry is currently dealing with in court, including a debt proceeding case in Minnesota.
RELATED: Iowa bankruptcy filing may halt Pure Prairie debt payment case
However, due to a filing in Iowa from four of Pure Prairie Poultry’s creditors, that case has been halted, and will not resume until Iowa courts decide whether or not to proceed with it.